Daniel Brett

Daniel Brett describes himself as a "journalist and consultant specialising in emerging markets, defence and security, mainly the Commonwealth of Independent States, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. My interest is focussed on the politics and economy of oil- and gas-producing regions and nations, but I also write on related manufacturing sectors, particularly the oil, gas and petrochemicals industries." According to the UK National Union of Journalists Freelance Directory, he is based in Loughton in Essex, UK, and Kolkata in India, is educated to a post-graduate level in economics and has "edited a number of books focussing on the politics and economy of the developing world."

Brett is founder and chairman of the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), a group that ostensibly works as an advocacy group for Iran's Arab minority in Khuzestan. Brett writes for the neo-conservative think tank, the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) and BAFS was involved in staging an HJS meeting at the House of Commons on creating a supposedly Arab Shi'a secular alternative to Iran in the Middle East. The HJS's supporters include former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove. His allegations of Iranian involvement in terrorism in Africa have also been published by the Middle East Strategic Information group, which is part of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

A spokesman for the Iranian embassy in London described BAFS as "an 'illegal' organisation dedicated to stirring up trouble between Iran and its neighbours." (Why it was described as "illegal" was not made clear.) The Iranian Foreign Ministry also condemned the British government for allowing BAFS to organise a demonstration in London, claiming it was a rally of terrorists. The group also campaigned for the release of convicted terrorist Fowzi Badawi Nejad, who was imprisoned for participating in the Iranian Embassy Siege in London in 1980.

Brett himself has been accused of 'historical revisionism' and a colonial mindset by Iranian writer Reza Zarabi.

Articles by Daniel Brett

 * Profile of an African Hezbollah, Middle East Strategic Information, January 2009
 * The Strait's Strategic Significance, Al-Arabiya, September 2008
 * Will Iran’s ethnic clampdown backfire?, Al-Arabiya, August 2008
 * Making Waves, The Guardian, March 2007
 * Quoted re Ibrahim al-Jaafari in "Ahwazi Appeal Newly Elected Iraqi Prime Minister," UNPO.org (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization), April 13, 2005.
 * Cited in "Al Ahwaz - Iranian Arabs," Arab Media Watch, undated (2006).
 * "Oil and the fall of Toqayev," IMC India, January 28, 2002.
 * "Democracy, Ethnicity and Repression in Iran: The Plight of the Ahwazi Arabs," Henry Jackson Society, November 27, 2005. Referenced in Ethnic politics of Khuzestan in the Wikipedia.
 * "Safeguarding the Ahwazi Arabs: Essential for a Stable and Democratic Middle East," Henry Jackson Society, December 11, 2005.
 * "Federalism: the Only Solution for Iran's Minorities", Gozaar, November 2006

General Articles

 * Nilanjana Roy, The Telegraph (Calcutta), July 9, 2005.